The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn

Author:Timothy Zahn [Zahn, Timothy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
ISBN: 978-0-307-82243-7
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2012-06-12T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

12

For the space of a dozen heartbeats I thought she was going to try to play out the masquerade. She lay there on her bunk, propped up on one elbow, and stared at me, a dozen expressions flicking across her face. And then, the one hand I could see tightened into a fist, and I knew she’d given up. “What gave me away?” she asked calmly.

“It wasn’t anything you said or did,” I assured her. “Though now in retrospect I can see hints that you were more than you seemed. That nicely fortuitous timing when you first came to the bridge, for instance, making sure that I didn’t just pocket the money your father had left for us and stroll casually off the ship. No, we simply picked up some additional information which included the interesting note that Cameron’s daughter hadn’t been seen for a while. Our informant was kind enough to include a photo that was just barely adequate.”

“I see,” she said. “Where exactly did this information come from?”

“You know how we’re connected,” I said, my voice heavy with significance. “Just leave it at that.”

She seemed to measure me with her eyes. “All right,” she said. “So. Now what?”

“Now what is that you tell us what the hell this is all about,” I said. “Starting with where your father is.”

“He’s back on Meima, of course,” she said. “You ought to know—you took off without him.”

I shook my head. “Sorry, but that won’t wash. The whole planet was looking to hang a murder charge on him, and there aren’t a hell of a lot of places there where a human could hide.”

“Which means he was already aboard when you left,” Ixil added. “I presume he was the one Jordan chased briefly around the ’tweenhull area?”

Tera grimaced. So did I, feeling like a complete fool. All the way up from the lower deck knowing she was Cameron’s daughter, and that part had never even occurred to me. “So he’s the one who tapped into my intercom,” I said. “And who tried to kill Ixil with the cutting torch.”

“Dad wasn’t trying to hurt him,” Tera snapped, her face flushing. “Not Ixil or anyone else.” She transferred her glare to Ixil. “He thought you’d be professional enough to check the torch before you tried lighting it.”

“I’d already done so,” he said calmly. “Under the circumstances, I should have known to check it again.”

“I’m sorry,” she growled, her expression one of anger mixed with guilt. “For whatever it’s worth, he felt very bad about you getting hurt.”

Ixil inclined his head. “I accept his apology.”

“Accept it in person, why don’t you,” I put in. “Elaina, we need to talk to your father right away.”

“Tera,” she corrected me. “And Dad’s not here. He got off at Potosi.”

I threw a glance at Ixil. The biggest Patth shipping facility in the entire region; and that was where Cameron had chosen to jump ship? “Why?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “He didn’t say anything about it to me beforehand.

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